Choir has audience on its feet with energetic and eclectic performance

Battle Community Singers round the piano

Published:10:49Tuesday 05 April 2016

Share this article

Last Wednesday’s concert had the audience on their feet, rocking in the aisles, singing along and waving arms like mad-men.

It was more like Glastonbury. No stuffy choral performance this...from the start Ailsa, our lustrious leader, had the audience doing warm up exercises, practicing their deep breathing and putting them through their paces with tongue twisters, such as “all I want is a proper cuppa coffee, in a proper copper coffee pot.”

Eventually, we gave them a special treat of medleys, folk songs and musical hits. First off was Skye Boat Song, an unaccompanied ballad from Scotland, lamenting the demise of Bonny Prince Charlie’s army at Culloden. Fortified by this early success we tried to lullaby the audience with Hushabye Mountain from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, followed by Believe by Lin Marsh.

Ailsa then decided to ‘up-the-anti’ and encouraged the audience go through a range of hand actions to be performed during the ensuing Gospel Train medley. The 7.30 to The Promised Land pulled out from Battle on time, as they all got on board for a rather exhausting journey involving Saints (marching in), Chariots (swinging low) and Trains (bound for glory). But still they asked for more!

We finished the first part of the evening in a state of Utter Madness, with young and old joining in Sugg’s Lyrics, slapping knees and jabbing finger’s skyward during the finale of Baggy Trousers.

The audience was then treated to five minutes of peace and quiet, before our relentless team returned clad in wellies to deliver an African Miner’s dance, and a medley of African songs.

Nonetheless the energizing beat and melifluous delivery conspired to draw one last gasp of appreciation from the shattered corpse of our audience, before we revived them with snacks and soft drinks. A rip-snorting success of an evening.

Next stop is Sedlescombe’s Got Talent on Friday May 20. If you fancy joining in, then practices take place on Wednesday evenings, 7pm at The Emmanuel Centre. Email Suzanne on rogsuzmartin3@btinternet.com for details. Website battlecommunitysingers.myfreesites.net. By David Horne.